On December 3rd, during the “Cyber Security Media Day” event, Hong Won-pyo, CEO of SK Shieldus, emphasized in his opening speech that “Cyber threats are managerial risks, not just technological ones. The preparation for cyber threats must expand across the entire ecosystem.” Speaking at the event held at COEX in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, he highlighted that “Cybersecurity is crucial for social stability both in industrial and security contexts.”
He also addressed the changes brought by artificial intelligence (AI), stating, “With the advent of the AI era, the importance of software and data is further emphasized. Organizations must thoroughly consider how to position themselves to protect their assets within this dynamic business ecosystem.”
Regarding the government-led initiative to improve network environments in financial and public institutions, he noted, “Organizations will need to establish security measures autonomously and utilize more external services, increasing exposure to vulnerabilities. It’s essential to comprehensively understand the changes driven by cybersecurity, data, and AI to secure the capability to control them.”
SK Shieldus revealed key security threats expected in the near future, highlighting five major threats for 2025: AI-based threats like deepfakes, ransomware utilizing multi-faceted attack techniques and extortion strategies, increased threats to identity access management (IAM) due to the relaxation of network segregation regulations, risks of cascading damage from partner security incidents, and rising hacking threats against cryptocurrency exchanges.
Alistair Neil, the Global Information Security Chief of Verizon Business, a global partner of SK Shieldus, presented on “Insights into Major Global Security Incidents for 2024.” He pointed out that last year, the Asia-Pacific region had high levels of espionage motives and was targeted by web application and API attacks due to rapid digitalization compared to other regions.
Additionally, SK Shieldus announced plans to pursue mergers and acquisitions with domestic security management companies within the year. Kim Byung-moo, Vice President of SK Shieldus, explained, “While we can’t disclose the company name at the moment, we are planning a deal of a significant scale not seen in the last decade. Once the contract is finalized, we will organize another opportunity to share our operational plans.”
As a leading information security company in Korea, SK Shieldus provides end-to-end security services across all areas, including security management, consulting, penetration testing, incident response, and cloud services. With a team of over 2,000 cybersecurity experts, including the white-hat hacker group EQST, and an AI-developed security management platform, SK Shieldus is serving more than 2,000 clients in sectors such as public, financial, telecommunications, manufacturing, and IT.